Mohawk Valley Community College will host a series of events on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in observance of World AIDS Day, a global movement to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

AIDS Memorial Quilt display

MVCC has partnered with the National AIDS Memorial to bring panels of the internationally renowned AIDS Memorial Quilt to the Mohawk Valley. The panels will be available for public viewing from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, Dec. 1-5, 2025, in the Payne Hall Lobby at the Utica Campus and the Plumley Complex Atrium at the Rome Campus.

This free exhibition — hosted by MVCC’s LGBTQ+ Workgroup and sponsored by Student Congress — will include panels honoring local individuals whose lives were lost to AIDS. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a 54-ton, handmade tapestry that stands as a memorial to more than 110,000 individuals lost to AIDS. Learn more at aidsmemorial.org. 

World AIDS Day Ceremony

A brief World AIDS Day ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in the Payne Hall Lobby at the Utica Campus. The community is invited to gather by The Quilt panels for brief remarks and messages of remembrance, resilience, and hope.

Lecture: HIV-AIDS and the U.S. — Then and Now

MVCC Dean Emerita and author Jennifer Boulanger will present a discussion of the evolution of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the United States at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in Wilcox Hall room 225 at the Utica Campus.

The program will include readings from her 2025 book, “A Song for Olaf: A Memoir of Sibling Love at the Dawn of the HIV-AIDS Pandemic,” as well as commentary on the political, cultural, and social ramifications of reactions by media, healthcare, and the U.S. government. A question-and-answer session will follow, and copies of Boulanger's memoir will be available for purchase.